PEOPLE WHO SMOKE AND DRINK SHOULD START SCREENING FOR COLON CANCER EARLIER BECAUSE THEY TEND TO CONTRACT THE DISEASE AT A YOUNGER AGE THAN THOSE WHO ABSTAIN FROM CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL, A STUDY SAID ON MONDAY, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. SCREENING FOR COLON CANCER IS GENERALLY RECOMMENDED FOR ANYONE 50 OR OLDER, AND 90 PERCENT OF CASES OCCUR AFTER THAT AGE. MEN HAVE A 1-IN-17 CHANCE OF CONTRACTING THE DISEASE IN THEIR LIFETIMES, ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY. USE OF ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES ARE KNOWN TO HEIGHTEN THE RISKS OF ALL TYPES OF CANCER, INCLUDING COLON CANCER. AN ANALYSIS OF 161,000 COLON CANCER VICTIMS FOUND THOSE WHO HAD SMOKED AND DRUNK ALCOHOL IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR CONTRACTED THE DISEASE AN AVERAGE OF EIGHT YEARS EARLIER THAN PEOPLE WHO NEVER SMOKED AND NEVER DRANK. THE AVERAGE AGE OF INITIAL DIAGNOSIS WAS 62 FOR MALE SMOKERS AND DRINKERS, 63 FOR WOMEN. IN THE STUDY, THOSE WHO SMOKED BUT DID NOT DRINK, OR THE REVERSE, DEVELOPED THE DISEASE AN AVERAGE OF FIVE YEARS EARLIER THAN ABSTAINERS, WITH FEMALE SMOKERS PARTICULARLY AT RISK OF GETTING THE DISEASE EARLIER. --MORE 23 19 LOCAL TIME 20 19 GMT
